PDX Pagan

Discussing all things mystical in hidden Portland, Ore.

Finding Your Way to Your Own Inner Compass

Compass - Smith GardenThe moment I first realized “Good” and “Bad” don’t really exist, I felt a jolt of terror. I’d grown used to the idea of holding my thoughts and actions up against a societal standard to judge whether I was a “Good” person. I’d grown used to following a list of prescribed rules for living a “Good” life. It was pretty much black and white, with the occasional patch of troubling gray that I could usually skirt around without too much effort.

When you’re a witch, though, you find out that kind of stuff is really only meant for children.

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Small Stone: Voices

Empty billboardI don’t think I’d like
To be a billboard
Screaming eternally
Saying nothing

–Summer Rain, 2012

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Brave Little Raindrops: The Journey to Source

rainToday, I am conscious of the brave little raindrops free-falling onto Portland streets.

Once, they were part of a larger whole — safe and protected, connected to a source greater than themselves. But over time they became separated from their source, divested of everything that was not essentially themselves, purified as they were drawn up into the atmosphere. There, they were filled with space, more space than they ever thought they could contain — disassembled, reassembled, condensed back into a form that is familiar yet entirely new.

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My New Year’s Word for 2012: Expand

Koru“Make the most of yourself, because that’s all there is of you.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. I stopped believing in them when I realized all they did was set me up for another round of the failure-shame-self-loathing cycle. On New Year’s Eve, with a head fully of bubbly and a bunch of tipsy friends proclaiming their best intentions, anything seems possible. Propelled forward by the turning of the Wheel, I always felt suddenly transformed, as if nothing could get in the way of my dreams.

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Humble Hauntings | Guest Post

Ghost faceToday, the translucent veil has lifted and we occupy the world side-by-side with spirits of the other realm. While I have never personally seen a ghost — although I have felt their energy disturbances — my sister has gotten some pretty impressive paranormal action in her lifetime. In honor of Samhain, I asked her to write about some of her experiences with the other side.Without further ado, here’s my sister, Amie:

Humble Hauntings — An Account of Less-than-Scary Ghost Sightings

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Scream 4: More Rehash than Reboot | Movie Review

scream 4 teaserWith Halloween approaching, what better time to wallow in the cheap blood-and-guts thrills of a shameless slasher flick? So when I settled in with a glass of wine to watch Scream 4, I was all psyched for a fun and bloody romp. While I did get what I wished for, the experience felt a bit… wanting.

To be honest, the pretentious, ultra-self-conscious premise of the Scream franchise has really begun to wear thin. For one thing, the term “reboot” grates on my nerves. It’s just a wannabe-hip, half tongue-in-cheek, half painfully earnest way of trying to duck the fact that Hollywood suffers from a dearth of ideas and is thus reduced to squeezing every last drop of marketability out of its old been-theres. And while it’s bad enough to hear marketers and reviewers refer to films as reboots, listening to the characters within a reboot discussing the properties of a reboot makes me want to… well, you know.

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I Am Not a Dandelion

Orchid“Most of us have genes that make us as hardy as dandelions: able to take root and survive almost anywhere. A few of us, however, are more like the orchid: fragile and fickle, but capable of blooming spectacularly if given greenhouse care.”

–David Dobbs

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The Road to Fair Elfland

moonwalkingAnd see not ye that bonny road,
That winds about the fernie brae?
That is the road to fair Elfland,
Where thou and I this night maun gae.

–The Ballad of Thomas the Rhymer

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Lady and the Hamster Wheel: The Spiritual Value of Chores

piles of dirty dishesI have trouble with repetitive, mindless tasks. They frustrate me, and I rebel against doing them. You know, things like cooking, vacuuming, doing the dishes, paying the bills, going to work every day, grooming myself — get the gist?

It’s not that I’m lazy. Well, I am lazy, but that’s not why I don’t want to do them. When there’s something new or interesting to do, I can damn well rally my big lazy bones to do it, but when it comes to applying myself to housework and other things that always need doing again just as soon as I’ve done them, my insides curl into a great big irritated snarl.

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City of Smog and Tears

chained in the rainA steely pall hangs over Portland today, weeping rain onto the dull sidewalks. In a last-ditch attempt to spit in winter’s eye, I’ve worn sandals to work, pushing the limits of practicality just a little too far. Outside, I stand shivering under the blanketed sky’s chilly frown.

It’s a day for scarves, umbrellas and hot green tea, but I have none of these things. Instead, I have a mind racing with too many thoughts and a heart raw from the painful work of progress. At least, I hope it’s progress. Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better, and I cling to that thought the way I cling to my hat on blustery days.

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